Defenders Vol 1 63
** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Antagonists: * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** Other Characters: * *Unnamed horse of the Richmond Riding Academy. * * * . A monster hiding in Khystym. * * *Unnamed juvenile car thief, calling himself a Defender. *Unnamed car thief's father. * * * * Races and Species: * * * * * * * * Locations: * ** *** * ** *** *** * ** *** ** * Items: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Vehicles: * . Hellcat's car. Events: * | Notes = * Cover art: preliminary art by Cockrum.http://comics.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=18032&lotIdNo=32005 *The story supposedly starts where the last issue left off. However, the two scenes do not really match. **In the last scene of the previous issue, the Hulk was attacked by 7 members of the Defenders for a Day: Black Goliath, Havok, Iron Fist, Polaris, Stingray, Tagak, and Torpedo. **In the opening scene of this issue, the Hulk fights 5 members of the Defenders for a Day: Black Goliath, Havok, Prowler, Stingray, and Torpedo. **Iron Fist, Polaris, and Tagak seem to have disappeared between issues. Prowler has appeared out of nowhere. *Nighthawk spend most of the previous issue angrily chasing after the Falcon, because the Falcon had dared to scold him about his mistreatment of others. *The scene involving Iron Fist riding a horse seems to be a strange reference to a subplot of the previous issue. In the previous issue Marvel Man, Nova, the Prowler, and the White Tiger took control of four horses from the Richmond Riding Academy and practiced horseback riding. Falcon and Nighthawk's aerial maneuvers spooked their horses, and the four mounted Defenders started angrily chasing the fliers. In this issue, only Iron Fist is seen riding a spooked horse and talking to the Falcon and Nighthawk. *At this point Hellcat was a former member of the Avengers. Apparently her correspondence kept arriving at the Avengers Mansion, even following her departure from the ranks. *Iron Man appears for four panels only, informing the real Defenders of the existence of a villainous group of Defenders. He is not actually seen departing, the other characters simply seem to forget about him. *Captain Marvel spend the previous issue as a popular member of the Defenders for a Day. He was nominated for their leadership and received several votes. He declined the leadership role and was instrumental in the election of Hercules to the position. In this issue, he resigns from the team with barely an explanation. *Ms. Marvel cites her previous experience with the Defenders. She was briefly a member or ally of the team in Defenders Vol 1 57 (March, 1978). Due to the team having no formal membership, the difference between an actual member and an ally was often unclear. *Ms. Marvel claims that she has recently joined the Avengers. This is partly correct. She joined an extended roster of the Avengers during the Korvac Saga, and served with the others in Avengers Vol 1 171 (May, 1978), Avengers Vol 1 172 (June, 1978), Avengers Vol 1 175 (September, 1978), Avengers Vol 1 176 (October, 1978), and Avengers Vol 1 177 (November, 1978). She was killed and resurrected, along with most of the other Avengers, in issue #177. She would not receive official Avengers membership until Avengers Vol 1 183 (May, 1979). *Paladin claims that he is a mercenary and not an altruistic hero. This does not explain why he wanted to join the team in the first place. *The Presence claims that he is responsible for the disaster which destroyed the town of Kyshtym. This is based on the Kyshtym disaster, an accidental nuclear explosion in Earth-1218. It took place on September 29, 1957. *The subplot involving the Presence and the giant amoeba continues in Defenders Vol 1 65 (November, 1978). *Whirlwind has spend much of his career facing Hank Pym. So it is reasonable to depict Pym as familiar with the Whirlwind's weaknesses. *The initial attack of Hercules on the Blob seems to work well, while his subsequent attacks on the same villain are ineffectual. The apparent inconsistency may be based on the way the Blob's powers work. Blob is supposed to be immovable when his gravity field is activated. This is based on his own force of will. He might not have expected Hercules' initial attack, but he was probably prepared for all the subsequent ones. *Among the villainous Defenders, only Batroc, the Blob, Electro, Sagittarius, and Whirlwind have speaking parts. The Beetle, the Looter, the Plantman, and Porcupine remain silent. *The Marvel Chronology Project, which covers. character appearances has the following information about the characters of this issue: **Batroc previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 52 (December, 1976). **The Beetle previously appeared in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1 16 (March, 1978). **Blob previously appeared in Champions Vol 1 17 (January, 1978). **Captain Marvel next appears in Marvel Two-In-One Vol 1 45 (November, 1978). **Electro previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 56 (April, 1977). **The Hulk next appears in Defenders Vol 1 67 (January, 1979). **Iron Man previously appeared in Avengers Annual Vol 1 8 (1978). He next appears in Fantastic Four Vol 1 202 (January, 1979). **The Looter previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 34 (June, 1975). **Ms. Marvel next appears in Avengers Vol 1 181 (March, 1979). **Paladin next appears in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 108 (August, 1981). **The Plantman previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 71 (July, 1978). **Porcupine previously appeared in Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 71 (July, 1978). **The Presence next appears in Defenders Vol 1 65 (November, 1978). **Sagittarius previously appeared in Defenders Vol 1 50 (August, 1977). **Whirlwind previously appeared in Avengers Vol 1 164 (October, 1977). | Trivia = *Due to an error, the issue contains no credit for its editor. The regular editor of the series at the time of its publication was Bob Hall. *There seems to be a coloring mistake in the second panel of page 6. During a gathering of the Defenders, a female character is seen standing next to Nighthawk. She has the Cat Suit's ears, but has long blond hair and wears a black uniform. This seems to be a miscolored Hellcat, who is typically red-haired and wears a yellow uniform. The only other female Defenders at the time were Valkyrie (who is seen standing next to Hercules), Ms. Marvel (who is seen standing next to Nova), and Polaris (who is missing from the panel, but wears a much different costume). | Recommended = | Links = }} References